Humane Society actions are questionable

Monday

Jun 30, 2008 at 6:00 AM

It’s ironic that American Bible Society president Paul Irwin is so supportive of the “animals and religion” program promoted by the Humane Society of the United States. (“Religious support for Humane Society goals,” Telegram & Gazette, June 12). Mr. Irwin was recently fired by the Bible Society’s board of directors because the company he hired to develop its Web sites was heavily involved in the online world of hard-core pornography.

Mr. Irwin also hired the same firm to build fundraising Web sites for the Humane Society of the United States in 2003, when he was that group’s chief executive.

Considering that the group is a “humane society” in name only — it doesn’t operate a single pet shelter anywhere in the U.S. — such poor judgment on the part of its leaders might not be the most earth-shattering news in the world. But before the world’s biggest group of animals-rights radicals decides to put on the mantle of religious righteousness, it had better get its moral ducks in a row.